PacificSport Centre will support athletes in the Columbia Basin

A newly launched PacificSport Centre in the Columbia Basin will give leadership to the sport sector in the region, helping build capacity, deliver programs, and develop partnerships that address structural and systemic barriers to sport participation, as well as ensure all participants and communities have opportunities to learn, grow, and develop their potential through sport.

The PacificSport Columbia Basin is part of the Regional Sport Alliance, a collective of provincial sport-delivery organizations passionate about enriching lives and energizing communities through sport and activity. The new centre is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport through viaSport.

Operating primarily as a virtual centre, PacificSport Columbia Basin executive director James Brotherhood said most of the organization’s work can be done “using technology and by increasing the capacity or skills of local sports leaders in each community. For example, I am working with Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club head coach Zach Hill on how to best utilize their blood lactate analyzers for on snow assessment of training adaptations and prescription of training zones for the athletes.

“Uniquely for Revelstoke, PacificSport Columbia Basin and PacificSport Interior (based in Kamloops) will work closely together to support the athletes, coaches and local sport organizations, as PacificSport Interior has supported the Revelstoke for over 20 years and has developed several long standing partnerships and relationships,” said Brotherhood. In-person services and programs will utilize a distributed staff as well as enhance the capacity and skills of key partners within each community.

Sport participation is very popular in the Columbia Basin, with nearly half of adolescents between Grades five and eight participating in organized sports, PacificSport Columbia Basin said in a statement. Delivering these programs are more than 250 volunteer led local sport organizations, 82 schools, and over 1700 trained and registered coaches/technical officials.

“I firmly believe in the power of sport to enrich communities and change lives,” Emily Brydon, three time Olympian and vice chair of PacificSport Columbia Basin, said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be involved in this important organization and look forward to the positive impact we will have on children, youth and communities through our work.

According to PacificSport Columbia Basin, there are currently over 85 high performance athletes and coaches in the region, five of which attended the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. These elite performers will experience enhanced access to performance supports like physiology support, strength and conditioning facilities, nutrition, and mental performance consultants. They, along with aspiring high-performance athletes will have increased access to sport performance programs, including enhanced testing/ monitoring and performance education programs.